4 Best Sights in Vietnam

On display at Danang Museum of Cham Sculpture, founded by the French in 1919, are artifacts from the Kingdom of Champa, which ruled this region for more than 1,000 years. The highly sensual, innovative, and expressive works from Tra Kieu's reign (7th century) and that of My Son (8th–9th centuries), and the abundant sandstone carvings of the god Shiva, testify to the prosperity of the Kingdom of Champa in its glory days. The Cham adopted many elements of Indian art and Sanskrit as their sacred language. Note the Cham Buddha depicted on a throne in an imperial pose, with his feet flat on the ground, in contrast to the traditional image of Buddha seated in the lotus position. The symbol of fertility, Uroja (meaning "woman's breast"), which you will also see throughout the museum, reveals the esteem afforded women in Cham culture.

The central Tra Kieu Altar in the Tra Kieu Room—in the middle gallery, opposite the entrance and across the courtyard—illustrates in relief-sculpture part of the Hindu Ramayana epic story. This is the museum's best-preserved relief. The galleries are arranged into a cohesive itinerary, and a performance and education space is on the second floor. Performances are listed on the website. English-speaking guides can lead you on tours of the museum.

Spread over three floors in a reportedly haunted French-colonial villa known as Chu Hoa's mansion, the city's Fine Arts Museum offers a comprehensive run through the main stages of Vietnamese art. Strolling around is a pleasant experience as the building itself is architecturally beautiful. While there could be more information to enlighten visitors, the examples of wartime propaganda art and lacquer art are superb.

Established in the memory of artist Le Ba Dang, who was born in nearby province Quang Tri and became successful in Paris, Lebadang Memory Space is one of the country’s best art museums. The main building of this private contemporary space, located on 4 acres near Thien An Hill, is modeled after one of the artist's paper works. The museum showcases Le Ba Dang's varied talents, from painting to sculpture to paper-cutting and printing.

Silk paintings, folk art, sculptures, artifacts, and lacquer works are among the works of art at this museum neighboring the Temple of Literature. You can see traditional paintings depicting village scenes as well as socialist-inspired works following the Vietnam War. The full collection of Cham and Buddhist art is housed in two separate buildings with signage in Vietnamese and English. It's sometimes possible to arrange a guide on demand, but prearrange one to be sure.